But I knew for a little while now that I don't want to be a "renter" my whole life so when my lease is up ( May 2017) I want to venture out and get my first rental property.

If you find a good buy, there is nothing wrong with trying to get into a joint venture or partner with someone on your first flip.

I invest money toward the purchase and rehab of this house utilizing a Joint Venture Operating Agreement.  

What I'm trying to say is, where would you take your money if you pulled out the capital and moved it to another venture?  

We currently do some joint ventures with investors outside the USA that want to flip homes in Florida...They fund, we find, purchase, rehab, relist and sell.This might be something worth exploring as you have the benefit of local feet on the street and local knowledge of the neighborhoods and markets.

Good luck with your new venture in investing in RE as well as your upcoming move.  

All the best on your real estate ventures!

Like attract Like.You cannot attract someone that can help you right away.... but if you prove your motivation and prepare to bring something to the table, then someone like me will be willing to take you under their wings and help each other soar to higher levels.Also, I wanted to mention that when I first started going to some network meetings in hope of finding potential partners, I discovered that there were a lot of wolves looking to eat up the young lambs.In one instance, two people, let's call them Jake and Joe, were supposedly bringing their experience and know how to the table, recruiting people who wanted in on their investments.Years later, I helped the individuals who became part of the ventures of Jake and Joe sue these two in Criminal Court for Fraud.

Thanks again for your input and best of luck to you both in your respective ventures.

Good luck in your ventures!